Being there and close up: KNT match day vs Costa Rica

Part2 of the Costa Rica/Korea match… and while the fireworks on the field last Saturday might have been a bit subdued, it’s not everyday that the KNT makes its way to play in the United States. The experience itself in taking in the game with other supporters is something only San Antonio and West Coast/LA Tavern goers will be lucky to have for this mini tour as Hong Myong-Bo figures out who will make the final 23 man World Cup roster.

Representing Tavern Koreatown/LA: Jeremy Paek. Earlier before the match, he was interviewed by A Football Report, then rushed to the stadium and detailed his adventure at the game with his camera (from what I understand, he snuck in the media section to get some great shots). Here’s his report:

Review: South Korea vs Costa Rica

by Jeremy Paek

Greetings fellow Taverners! Just came back from an amazing and tiring trip in which I saw the KNT/Costa Rica match. This is my first professional football match that I’ve attended so far, and I am grateful to be given the opportunity to talk about the experience and contribute my thoughts on the Taeguk Warriors. This is also my first time blogging about football, and I hope to do it more often here at the Tavern.

Our crowded bus finally stopped in front of Exposition Park, where the University of Southern California is located. The heavy traffic made us late for the match, so we started running towards the coliseum, with five minutes before kickoff remaining. Once we approached the coliseum, a guard told us to head to Entrance 4. While running towards the gate, I could slightly see the stadium screen, and seeing the footballers in white already positioned and running for the ball made me nervous and excited. As we arrived at the gate, we were greeted with a massive line of Reds still trying to enter the stadium. Fortunately, we were able cut through the line and make in past the security checkpoint in about a minute.

– Eggghhhh.

As we walked through the tunnel, we saw plenty of Real Madrid, AC Milan, and Manchester United jerseys. Of course, most of the Korea jerseys had the Park-Chu Young, Park Ji-Sung names, and we even saw a few Koreans in Brazilian colors. And right when we settled into our seats, BAM. Kim Shin-Wook puts one into the back of the net. Of course, we all stood up and joined our team in jubilation. Me? I was still trying to absorb the fact that I was seeing Lee Keun-Ho in action, and Jung-Sung Ryong and Lee-Beom Young warming up right in front of us! Not too long ago, both goalkeepers made crucial saves against the home nation of the 2012 Olympics.

The fans on the other side of the stadium were also mostly Korean, one could tell with the distinctive Daehan-Minguk chant.

Throughout the first-half, Korea dominated in the midfield. The Costa Ricans didn’t pose much of a threat as most attacks were put to an end. In the upper rows, a group of Korean fans spouted racial taunts in insufficient Spanish towards the Costa Ricans, especially whenever they tried to attack. Definitely an embarrassing thing to see that took away some fun from the match. And to my right, were kids 7-9 learning about the Yellow/Red Card rule. A good number of chances were created by the Koreans to double their lead, but in the final third, execution was not accurate enough.

During the start of the second-half, Costa Rica started to keep better possession of the ball. They had some good chances to equalize, but couldn’t produce a good finish. Their frustration later earned one of the players a straight-Red. And as he was walking off the pitch, he saluted us sarcastically while being congratulated by the fans for his card-earning tackle. At one point, a Korean player tripped Costa-Rican defender, and a small scuffle ensued while the screens in the stadium were blocked from showing the contentious issue. I saw a Korean player play some theatrics by lying in the penalty area as a Costa Rican tried to distract the referee. It was all very surreal. Another red card followed, and Costa Rica was finally reduced to nine-men. Jorge Pinto made several substitutions but none of them proved to be effective. Kim-Shin Wook’s goal at the 20 minute mark stood as the only goal in the match, as Korea couldn’t score once more against a team that was severely weakened. Lee Keun-Ho struck the ball beautifully many times, but couldn’t the back of the net. In the end, Korea wins 1-0.

-The KNT thanking their fans and supporters.

After the end of the game, I was able to grab Lee-Keun Ho’s attention from a distance and give him the exchange shirts gesture! He simply smiled and kept walking. I called out Kim Shin-Wook and congratulated him for his goal by giving him a thumbs-up. These two guys are my favorite K-League players and I think if it wasn’t for mandatory military conscription in Korea, they could potentially be world-class. They seemed to be the most popular players amongst the fans, as many shouted out their names whenever they got a good chance.

-Snuck in, and was able to snap this photo. A glum #23.

MY THOUGHTS

The next fixture in Los Angeles will be against the USMNT on Feb. 1. I don’t have a ticket yet, and Carson is far from Koreatown, but we’ll see what happens. Any Taverners attending the match, please let me know.

Park Ji-Sung’s public conference and Ha-Dae Sung’s injury didn’t seem to affect the team very much. In general, the Taeguk Warriors are a team with strong potential, and I think HMB has done quite well by teaching his team how to take control of a game by implementing a nice passing tactic. And since the dark age of Choi-Kang Hee and his disastrous WC qualifying campaign, I can only imagine that he has done well with instilling team spirit. However, they are sorely lacking in the final third, as they are without a competent striker. Park Chu-Young is insufficient. And of course, many players are prevented from developing their careers due to mandatory military service. With the limited options he has, I think Hong Myung-Bo is doing a good job preparing his team for the World Cup. I am more than confident that the Taeguk Warriors will climb over the first hurdle and advance to the next round. After that, anything can happen.

-Our side was much bigger, but not louder. The other side was smaller, but much louder. Lemonade, peanuts, and churros for $6 each.

The KNT’s next match is on Wednesday, January 29 in the Alamodome of San Antonio. Stay tuned!

11 Comments

I love reading about racial slurs being tossed around in football! Especially when the Korean national team comes to the USA for the first time… good job brothers! It makes me so proud. (sarcasm…)

In all seriousness, that BS has to stop. Hopefully those idiots who did that are just uneducated fools. As a Korean, I’m sickened to hear that they screamed racial slurs IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE. Unfortunately, it’s a reality that has to be faced and hopefully eliminated.

I”m right there with you. It’s an interesting dilemma – in the few USMNT matches I’ve seen, I’ve seen a number of US fans chant racist slurs towards the Brazilians -and directed it also to their supporters throughout the stadium. It’s disappointing to see – international matches should be about football and friendly competition. This ultra nationalism that rears itself as racism is so ’20th century ago’ or at least should be. There is still a ways to go to stamping out racism in and off the pitch. But ALL Taeguk Warrior supporters need to hold the high ground on this issue here. What would their umma’s say about this? Shame.

I totally agree with you John. Costa Rica is a beautiful country (I’ve visited there before) and Costa Ricans are very nice people. Koreans like this are a disgrace. I remember when Koreans during the 2002 world cup hanged a banner that said “Hitler’s children go back home!” during the semi final match. This needs to stop.

Wow. I didn’t know that happened in 2002, taegukreddevile. Crazy and stupid. As for Costa Rica, while I agree racism comes from all sides, it’s still noteworthy that Costa Ricans are generally very embracing people. The society and culture in fact have a term for this whole philosophy of life basically–“pura vida” I think it was.

K League Classic

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

#

Team

P

1

Gyeongnam

9

2

Gangwon

9

3

Pohang Steelers

7

4

Jeonbuk Motors

6

5

Suwon Bluewings

4

6

Incheon United

4

7

Jeju United

4

8

Jeonnam Dragons

3

9

Sangju Sangmu

3

10

Seoul

1

11

Daegu

1

12

Ulsan

0

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

March 18, 2018

Suwon Bluewings

1 - 1

Pohang Steelers

Ulsan

0 - 1

Jeju United

Jeonbuk Motors

2 - 1

Seoul

March 17, 2018

Jeonnam Dragons

1 - 3

Gyeongnam

Gangwon

2 - 1

Sangju Sangmu

Incheon United

0 - 0

Daegu

English Premier League

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

#

Team

P

1

Manchester City

81

2

Manchester United

65

3

Liverpool

63

4

Tottenham Hotspur

61

5

Chelsea

56

6

Arsenal

48

7

Burnley

43

8

Leicester City

40

9

Everton

40

10

AFC Bournemouth

36

11

Watford

36

12

Brighton & Hov…

34

13

Newcastle United

32

14

Swansea City

31

15

Huddersfield Town

31

16

Crystal Palace

30

17

West Ham United

30

18

Southampton

28

19

Stoke City

27

20

West Bromwich Albion

20

Hwang Heechan

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

#

Team

P

1

Red Bull Salzburg

62

Bundesliga

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

#

Team

P

1

Bayern München

66

2

Schalke 04

49

3

Borussia Dortmund

48

4

Eintracht Frankfurt

45

5

Bayer 04 Leverkusen

44

6

RB Leipzig

43

7

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim

39

8

Stuttgart

37

9

Borussia Mönchengladbach

36

10

Augsburg 1907

35

11

Hertha BSC

35

12

Werder Bremen

33

13

Hannover 96

32

14

SC Freiburg

30

15

Wolfsburg

25

16

1. FSV Mainz 05

25

17

1. FC Köln

20

18

Hamburger SV

18

Kwon Changhoon

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

#

Team

P

10

Dijon

38

Search for:

The Tavern of the Taeguk Warriors is an online community of Korean football/soccer supporters. We bring you news, analysis and opinion in English about Korean players abroad, youth players and the K League.